Disclosures show Trump owes at least $315m

Disclosure document nowhere nearly as detailed as the tax records that US president has refused to publish so far.

17 Jun 2017 11:59 GMT

US President Donald Trump had personal liabilities of at least $315.6m to German, US and other lenders as of mid-2017, according to a federal financial disclosure form released late on Friday by the US Office of Government Ethics.

The 98-page disclosure document, posted on the ethics office's website, is nowhere nearly as detailed as the tax records that Trump has thus far refused to publish despite a long-standing tradition among American heads of state.

According to this disclosure, Trump resigned from his managing posts in almost all of his enterprises on January 19, 2017, one day before being sworn into office at the White House. The rest he had quit before that.

In terms of debts reported to the ethics office, Trump listed liabilities of at least $130m to Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, a unit of German-based Deutsche Bank AG.

For example, Trump disclosed debts to Deutsche exceeding $50m for the Old Post Office, an historic Washington, DC, property in which he has opened a hotel.

Income increased

Trump also reported liabilities of at least $110m to Ladder Capital Corp, a commercial real-estate lender with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Boca Raton, Florida.

Income from many of his other hotels and resorts largely held steady.

Revenue from Trump Corporation, his real-estate management company, nearly tripled, to $18m, and revenue from Mar-a-Lago grew by 25 percent, to $37.25m.

The private club doubled its initiation fee to $200,000 after Trump's election.

The data suggests that increased visibility for Trump could have led to an increase in revenue at least for his hotel and golf businesses.

He also earned $11m from the Miss Universe pageant, after selling the beauty contest in 2015.

His assets probably exceeded $1.4bn because the disclosure form provided ranges of values.

The document showed Trump held officer positions in 565 corporations or other entities before becoming US president.

His tenure in most of those posts ended on January 19, the day before his inauguration, and in others in 2015 and 2016.

Most of the entities involved were based in the US, with a handful in Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, Bermuda and elsewhere.

The Russia connection

The liabilities to Deutsche Bank are especially sensitive for Trump and were recently tied to the Russia probe led by Robert Mueller, FBI special counsel.